post 3

(even more literate now...)


The reason I decided to share this lesson is because it prepares the students for the reading well, and also promotes some real good discussion.

In a unit on the Holocaust, the students read a short play and other stories on people who helped Jews escape capture from the Nazis. Before reading, the students fill out a graphic organizer on their experiences with prejudice. (I got the original from ADL.org I think, but I can't find it). The graphic organizer is a table with 4 boxes with the headings: Bystander, Accomplice, Perpetrator, Victim. In each of these boxes students are to begin the lesson by recording their personal experiences with prejudice while in each of these roles. After discussing our experiences and feelings in these roles, and whether we have responsibility in these situations, we read the story or play.

At the end, students write a reflection based on the protagonist's experience and reflecting on their own experience with prejudice, what do they think they would have done in their place? And to what extent, would they go (breaking the law, etc).

In the end, the lesson personalized the whole experience for them, and helped to realize that everyone can experience prejudice in one way or another (whether as a victim or perpetrator).

post 2

i tried to post this a long time ago, but was not quite literate at the time. now i am.

"While I no longer have the confidence that I can dramatically increase my students' reading level, I have decided to focus on another big goal: decreasing apathy. No matter what we teach and no matter a student's background, apathy plays a critical role in the persistence of failure. While there's no tried and true indicators for the degree to which students care about school or what they are studying, it certainly shows in their attitude and performance.

I have found a little grin on my face when overhearing my students spiritedly discuss the merits of communism, debate the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, or note the injustices apparent in DC's local government structure. Even though they may never think about it a second time, and they will certainly not lie awake at night contemplating the longterm cultural and political impact of European colonialism, it's an incredible thing to witness those fleeting moments of excitement.

History can be a hard sell. Aside from the off chance that they will wind up on a trivia game show, or that they make the curious decision of pursuing a history PhD, or understanding the dangerously abstract moral importance in studying the past, it's pretty hard to make the case for history's importance in my student's lives. I've tried, but can't say that we are on the same page. So the moments in which they truly empathize and connect to people of different cultures from different time periods, however brief, are truly rewarding."

Thanks, everyone!

Thanks for your dedication to making this course a productive learning environment. I've enjoyed learning about your teaching experiences and admire you all for the hard work you've done this year. It's really been a pleasure to get to know you.

A lesson that worked

I originally wrote this blog in a word file and was writing it on my wish list, but then I ended up teaching a lesson on one of the things I said that I wished other teachers would teach... and it worked! So rather than recount my lengthening list of things I wish my students would walk in here knowing I here's a bit about a recent lesson that worked.

I meant my lesson to be a quick brush up on using sines and cosines to find x and y components of vectors, but what I found was that the students really didn't even know how to punch sine and cosine into their calculators, much less have any idea of what they meant. However, since I have been making a big stink in my class about how I really don't care if my kids can punch numbers into calculators or even plug them into equations, I forged ahead with my "review" of sine and cosine as the ratio of lengths of the sides of a right triangle. (maybe you remember Soh Cah Toa ?)

As it turned out nearly every one of the students ate up this more basic, version of sine and cosine than whatever they had been working with since first taking geometry or whatever. In physics, the point of doing such analysis is to find out what portion of a vector "goes in a certain direction". We talked about how pulling on something in the direction you actually want it to go is more efficient than pulling at some angle and that the bigger the angle, the less force actually ends up "going" the way you want it.

Nearly every student had one of those lightbulb moments right in front of me. Even though I thought the lesson was about as boring as could be, over half of the students said it was one of the best lessons they had this year and that they wish I had taught them sine/cosine in the first place! To be honest I think that the result was more due to the fact that the students had covered the material many times before, but it was satisfying nonetheless to see them actually get excited about learning some math.

What I'd like to think made the lesson work was the fact that it was applied math. It makes me want to work more to find lessons that integrate into them the learning of things they should already know. Too often I find myself trying to teach lessons that merely depend on them knowing things they should have already learned. It makes me want to find a way to help the students learn applied math in the first place, as opposed to learning math and then trying to apply their skills in physics. I think that the fact that the stated goal of the lesson was not to learn some math was important. The students seemed to treat the whole thing as if they were learning something other than math, and, since they claimed never to have seen it done the way I was showing them, they acted as if the whole thing were new and interesting!

Blog Posting: Information and Technology Literacy

Here is the blog post that I presented on last week.

-Dara

On the topic of technology and education, there are two areas of focus:
1. Technology used by you to demonstrate or illustrate something for your students, and
2. Technology used by your students for their own self-directed instruction

1. I won’t delve too deeply into the first topic, simply because it is mostly common knowledge. Digital projectors, movie clips shown to the class, demonstrations on a computer screen, music used as part of a lesson, and even something as simple as having a typed assignment rather than a handwritten one all obviously have a tremendous impact in the classroom. Textbooks often come with demonstration software (especially math and science), and even if your particular textbook didn’t, other publishers’ books may. (This weekend, I picked up 4 statistics textbooks at a used book sale, all of which came with software.) This, coupled with the ample Java applets, pictures, media clips, etc. available by simply Googling whatever it is you’re teaching, takes care of the visual. (If your school has youtube and Google videos blocked, save the entire webpage to your hard drive while you’re at home and then demonstrate with the saved copy.)

2. The second topic is much broader, and much more controversial. It can again be divided into two subcategories:
A. hardware, and
B. software

A. Hardware, including calculators, computers, timers, cameras, etc. are obviously useful, but their long-term practicality has sparked a lot of debate. A constant concern for math teachers is if having calculators available to all students, all the time discourages mental math, and students may find themselves reaching for their calculator to perform simple calculations that they should to be able to do in their head. Another concern is that the calculator (or other technology) is perceived as giving the “right” answer, even though may be far from the case, and thus the critical evaluation of answers is bypassed. Finally, a calculator may hide process and as a result a student may not be aware of it (or may give it a lower priority to the eventual result). A 1986 review of previous studies by Hembree and Dessart (JRME, March 1986, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 83-99) concluded “across all grade and ability levels, students using calculators possess a better attitude toward mathematics and an especially better self-concept in mathematics than students not using calculators”. While the age of the review could call into question the results, and studies such as one on the effects of calculator use on tests of mathematical reasoning (Bridgeman, Harvey, and Braswell, JEM, Winter 1995, Vol. 32, No. 4 pp. 323-340) have found the benefits of calculator use on standardized tests highly variable, I believe both critiques are missing a very key point: technology puts power (quite literally) in the hands of the students. I might lead and demonstrate, but they are the ones computing the results. While a demystification of hardware is essential in ensuring an overall positive affect, and hardware cannot be used without students first having an understanding of process and an ability to predict and evaluate answers on their own, the technology is empowering and, in my opinion, overwhelmingly successful. After all, our students know how to send a text message, download a ringtone, upload to MySpace, and get around a firewall; learning to use a graphing calculator to do more than just add and subtract is not at all out of their reach (and from watching my classes, they love exploring its functions and finding features on their own).

B. The field of educational software is much more extensive, and controversial, than I had imagined. Without trying to be too subject-specific (because I’ve largely focused on math so far!), there are seemingly countless software programs touting improved conceptualization, increased student interest, higher student engagement levels, differentiation and customization tailored to individual student needs, and in general an absolute indispensability to the learning process. With this apparent wealth in resources also come reviews of the software (http://www.educational-software-directory.net/reviews.html provides a guide to online reviews of educational software).
However, a recent Department of Education Study (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040402715.html?hpid=topnews) has not only doubted the overall effectiveness of educational software in raising test scores, but also questioned the legality of some major software purchases. The study cited the ineffectiveness of software in some schools to be a result of lack of teacher training, as some instructors were using it as a replacement for rather than a supplement to instruction. As a matter of personal opinion, I believe that software is secondary to hardware. If a student knows that a computer can help them reduce data, whether or not they use Excel or the software program that came with the physics equipment is secondary. As far as the games-as-instruction method goes, a lot of the software that I have seen does not link the knowledge with its delivery method. After all, shooting at spaceships while learning to type is one thing, but shooting at spaceships when you get the correct solution to a question on standard deviation is definitely another. There should not be a disconnect between process and result. In fact, I feel that the major benefit of educational software is not the program itself but the fact that it’s encouraging students to use the computer in the first place. The goal of technology in general should be at least in part the technological empowerment of the student.

Web log 3, matthew hallahan

ok this is not a lesson that worked, but it is something I am getting more interested in doing. I've noticed my students are really bad at making deductions, analyzing the data they are given. We've talked alot about being critical readers, but I've become interested in students as critical consumers. We are bombarded by media and our students need to be able to dissect it.

I'm heard this either in class or another seminar. I liked the idea. It was to have students analyse advertizements (print, radio, television, internet). The students will have to identify what claims are made, if these claims can be substantiated, who is the target audience, etc. In the end, i think it doesnt make much difference what we teach kids to be critical towards. I bet there's alot of carry over.

I'll somehow have to tie this to math.

blog post 3 - wish list

there are lots of things that i wish my kids would do, but i think the most prevalent thing is not immediately to shut out anything that is related to schoolwork. they shut down when they see any work they must complete. it seems like no matter how interesting i try to make the material, as long as they think i'm teaching them a strategy...forget it. they will sometimes work on the assignment, but i find it very challenging to get them to actually think about their answers, they simply want to fill in the lines.

i guess i just wish that they would connect with the material, and have an open mind. i think many of them want to learn; however, if there is no immediate payoff, they think it is a waste of time. i wish they had more examples of people like them who have used education for a payoff.

next year, i think i will work much more to get them to see the power of words and reading.